Easy Fall Apple Craft: Idunn’s Apple
Idunn's Apple: A Fall Mythology Craft
Fall is the harvest season and apples are everywhere. From candy apples to bobbing for apples, this fruit can be found all over the world in the fall and early winter. But where exactly did it come from?
The History of Apples
Apples probably originated in Asia when paleolithic (old stone age) people discovered something that looked a lot like a crab apple. These apples were small, sour and grew wild in the forests. Odds are they originated in Kazakhstan. In fact, the capital of Kazakhstan is named Alma Ata which translates to “full of apples”!
Overtime, Neolithic (new stone age) farmers started selecting the best apples and created something a little closer to the apple we might find in the store today. It was still smaller than what you’re probably used it.
Slowly, apples traveled to Egypt, Europe and of course all-over North America—thanks to that guy Johnny Appleseed. The ancient Romans loved apples and often served dried apples in the winter as a treat.
Today, there are more than 7500 types of apples. Comment with your favorite below. Mine is Honey Crisp.
Apples in Mythology
Homer the famous Greek poet, mentions apples in the Odyssey (that crazy story about trying to get home after the Trojan War). Most people in Western society can think of at least one famous story involving apples. (Hint: it takes place in the Garden of Eden and involves a snake). But the stories, history, and mythology related to apples is boundless.
For this craft, let’s focus on a little know Norse goddess named Idunn (you say her name like Ih-dune). It is also sometimes written as Ydun, Idun, Ithunn, or Idunna. Her name translates as “ever young” or “the rejuvenating one”. Although she only appears in two main stories, she is the keeper of magical apples the Norse gods eat to stay young and healthy, which makes her a pretty powerful goddess. Without her rejuvenating apples, the other Norse gods would age quickly and lose their strength. Therefore she is a goddess of health, wellbeing and youth.
In the most famous myth featuring Idunn, she is kidnapped by a giant. It all starts when Loki, the trickster god, is captured by the giant. In order to free himself, Loki makes a deal with the giant to bring him Idunn. Using his sneaky wiles, Loki tells Idunn there is a forest where apples grow that are even better than hers. Naturally, Idunna is curious and decides to go with Loki to this far away forest. Before leaving, Loki suggests she brings her apples to compare them to the ones growing in the forest.
When they arrive in the forest the giant kidnaps Idunn and takes her apples. At first, the gods don’t really notice Idunn’s absence. But as time goes by they start to age and aren’t feeling good and want some of her apples to restore themselves. That’s when they realize Idunn is missing!
As an added bonus, print out this picture of the giant and color him in.
The gods realize she was last seen with was Loki and since he has a reputation for no good, they decide he must know something about Idunn’s disappearance. Dragging Loki before a council of the gods, they demand that he bring back Idunn. He agrees and goes after the giant. Using his skillful trickery, manages to kill the giant and set Idunn free.
She returns to land of the gods, known as Asgurd; the gods get their magic healing apples back; and Loki gets live another day to cause my mischief.
You might be familiar with the old saying, “An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.” The Norse gods would certainly agree with that!
Now let’s make our own easy apple craft.
Supplies:
- Scissors
- Paint
- Soda Bottle
Directions:
- Make sure your soda bottle is clean and dry
- Cut out the center section of the bottle
- Then fit the top and bottom sections of the bottle together
- Paint your bottle (red and green are the most common colors for apples, but paint it any color you want!)
- Now you have an easy apple craft!
